According to NFL insider Josina Anderson, the New York Jets are set to hire Denver Broncos assistant general manager Darren Mougey as the franchise's next general manager. Mougey, 39, was part of an expansive search that the Jets led over the last month plus, and was one of only a few candidates to receive a second interview with the team. He will lead one of the more prominent and media-covered teams in American sports and oversee some sweeping changes in New York.
Mougey has only ever worked for the Broncos and was first hired in 2012 as a scouting intern. Since then, he has climbed the ranks of the Broncos front office, working in scouting, college scouting, and personnel, eventually being promoted to assistant general manager before the 2022 season. Mougey has served in that role ever since.
Broncos could benefit from losing Darren Mougey to New York Jets
He has remained in Denver despite turnover at every position of power in the organization since, ranging from ownership to general managers, to coaching, and every player on the roster. Ever since his hire, Mougey has been the longest-tenured member of the football operations department.
Mougey will inherit a mess from former general manager Joe Douglas. The Jets currently have the longest-running playoff drought in the NFL, and there are not exactly any signs of it ending soon. Aaron Rodgers effectively runs the show in New York, and there are major question marks surrounding his NFL skills, his future, and whether or not he will ever play football again.
Along with Rodgers is his former Packers teammate Davante Adams, who seemed to want to follow Rogers to New York after exiting Las Vegas. If Rogers is to retire, Adams' future would be up in the air and that would immediately become a major decision for Mougey to make.
Superstar wideout Garrett Wilson expressed frustration with his role in New York by the end of the year, and his future too could be very much up in the air. Moving on from one or both of the wideouts could help Mougey press reset on the Jets and their current mess.
He will team up with new head coach Aaron Glenn, who is a branch off of the Sean Payton coaching tree, which could spell bad news for the Broncos. Glenn got his start in positional coaching in New Orleans under Payton, and will now work with a member of the Broncos front office during Payton's Broncos tenure.
You can't help but wonder if there's a chance the Broncos stand to benefit from having such substantial connections in New York now with their connections from the top down.